MLB Stars Not Hitting Their Weight: Albert Pujols and the All-Mendoza Line Team
Baseball is a game of clichés, which may be a cliché in and of itself.
To utilize one such truism, the MLB season is a marathon and not a sprint, so judging any team or player by just 10 games out of 162 is not a wise way to go.
I'm not doing that here; I realize that 10 games (some teams have played 11 and others nine) is the equivalent of just one game in an NFL season: A very small sample size.
But why not have a little fun here and highlight the players who are not pulling their weight on the young season, including the great Albert Pujols, who did boost his average to exactly .200 with his three hit performance last night at Arizona.
The consensus best player in the game is off to a brutal start by his considerably high standards—or anyone's for that matter—but he does have plenty of company in that regard.
What follows is my All-Mendoza Line NL and AL Teams featuring players who are at .200 or below through games played on Tuesday, April 12.
Most players are playing in their natural positions and indeed there were many more that qualified for their league's teams. Which is not a good thing, unless these players are going for infamy or a tribute to Mr. Mendoza.
Let's take a brief look at the one-and-only Mario Mendoza and then go around the diamond in both leagues to cite his best impersonators.
The Real Mario Mendoza...Whose Career Average Was Above the Mythical Line
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Mario Aizpuru Mendoza was a slick-fielding shortstop (and utility infielder) who played in the bigs from 1974-1982 with the Pirates, Mariners and Rangers.
Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, he was known more for his defense than his offense until he became known more for his futility on offense.
The Mendoza Line, in its most popular usage, generally is a line drawn at .200. If you are hitting exactly .200, you are on the line, and .199 is below.
Mendoza's career batting average was actually a more respectable .215 compiled in 1,456 regular season at-bats. Interestingly, his postseason average was exactly .200, although in fairness, he only had five at-bats.
There is some controversy over the origins of the nickname with credit often going to either then-Mariner teammate Tom Paciorek or baseball legend George Brett. It appears that ESPN's Chris Berman and company have done much to place this in our baseball lexicon.
By the way, since Mendoza was listed at 170 pounds, he hit well above his weight.
NL Catcher: Yadier Molina, .152
2 of 18
2011: .152, with no homers and three RBI
Career BA: .266
Listed Weight: 230
Well, the three-time defending Gold Glover and two-time All-Star still plays all-world defense.
AL Catcher: Miguel Olivo, .182
3 of 18
2011: .182, with no homers and three RBI
Career BA: .245
Listed Weight: 225
Prior to this year, the Mariners new catcher has been among the best hitting catchers in the game, averaging 16-plus homers per year his last five seasons.
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NL First Base: Albert Pujols, .200
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2011: .200, with one homer and four RBI
Career BA: .330
Listed Weight: 230
El Hombre is so consistently great that it's hard to ever catch him hitting less than .300, let alone scuffling to get to the Mendoza Line.
Pujols' first 11 games have been marred by uncharacteristic fielding errors (two already as opposed to four all of last year for the Gold Glover) and leaving a plethora of runners on base.
But I do not expect him to stay below his weight for much longer or hit less than .300 this season. Yes, he may have a few more distractions this year, but the best player in the game is not called "The Machine" without reason.
AL First Base: Dan Johnson, .122
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2011: .122, with one homer and three RBI
Career BA: .239
Listed Weight: 216
Judging by the picture, maybe the Ray's first baseman needs a new bat.
Seeing him on this list is not as shocking as finding, say, Albert Pujols here, but when you weigh 216 and play first base, you should be hitting higher than .122.
NL Second Base: Dan Uggla, .167
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2011: .167, with two homers and two RBI
Career BA: .262
Listed Weight: 207
Dan's debut season in Atlanta is looking very Ugg-ly thus far, but the stocky second sacker figures to get it going soon.
Interestingly, the man who is usually good for almost a strikeout per game has only fanned six times in 11 games.
Just grip and rip it, Dan.
AL Second Base: Chone Figgins, .158
7 of 18
2011: .158, with one homer and three RBI
Career BA: .286
Listed Weight: 180
On the bright side, the speedy infielder has already matched his home run output for 2010.
He went two-for-five with that homer in the season opener. Does that account for his teammate's shocked look in this slide?
NL Third Base: Juan Uribe, .149
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2011: .149, with no homers and two RBI
Career BA: .255
Listed Weight: 230
Uribe is coming off a very productive championship season with the Giants.
It remains to be seen whether he made the right move by traveling downstate to play for their biggest rivals. The Dodgers may soon be asking the same question.
AL Third Base: Kevin Youkilis, .182
9 of 18
2011: .182, with no homers and two RBI
Career BA: .293
Listed Weight: 220
Youk's OBP is still .426, as he's already drawn 13 base on balls.
NL Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, .182
10 of 18
2011: .182, with no homers and two RBI
Career BA: .312
Listed Weight: 229
One would expect that this supremely talented shortstop will get it going very soon. In 2010, he hit .300 with 21 jacks in a down year.
AL SS: Elvis Andrus, .200
11 of 18
2011: .200, with 1 homer and 7 RBI
Career BA: .264
Listed Weight: 200
Perhaps, hitting a homer in his third game was a mistake; he had none all of last year.
Andrus is only 22 and his best days (for the year and for his career) are still ahead.
I really went out on a limb there.
NL LF: Tyler Colvin, .167
12 of 18
2011: .167, with two homer and six RBI
Career BA: .244
Listed Weight: 210
Colvin is coming off a fairly solid rookie year and has been quasi-productive this year despite the low batting average.
AL LF: Carl Crawford, .152
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2011: .152, with no homers and one RBI
Career BA: .295
Listed Weight: 215
You may have read a word or two about Crawford and his new team's very slow start.
Coming off his best offensive season, CC should rebound soon to approximate what he did in Tampa. Red Sox Nation certainly hopes he gets the hang of things in Beantown and puts up a (Green) monster season.
NL CF: Angel Pagan, .179
14 of 18
2011: .179, with one homer and four RBI
Career BA: .282
Listed Weight: 195
Pagan is coming off a breakout season in 2010, but not lighting it up so far in 2011.
The Mets hope their speedy outfielder gets it going soon.
In the meantime, Angel Pagan does possess one of the coolest names in the game in an oxymoronic kind of way.
AL CF: Vernon Wells, .091
15 of 18
2011: .091, with no homers and two RBI
Career BA: .278
Listed Weight: 230
The Angels must be thrilled with their new outfielder whose career seems to have peaked around age 27 or so. He's just 32 and did have a mini-comeback year last year, but I would not project great success for Wells in 2011.
Then again, I'd be thrilled to be hitting .091 at the MLB level, even at age 27.
NL RF: Ryan Ludwick, .094
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2011: .094, with one homers and two RBI
2010: .251 / 17 / 69 (combined numbers with Cards and Padres)
Career BA: .264
Listed Weight: 218
Ludwick may have regretted leaving St. Louis as he did not fare too well in a Padre uniform last year, batting .211 with six homers in 59 games.
Still, .094 is a brutal start, even at Petco Park.
AL RF: Shin-Soo Choo, .190
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2011: .190, with one homer and two RBI
Career BA: .295
Listed Weight: 205
Shin-soo Choo sounds like a sneeze, but his game (usually) is nothing to sneeze at.
Shoo is among the better all-around players in the game and it's a little surprising that the Indians are 8-3 despite his cold start.
Expect Shoo to heat up and the Indians to cool off as the season progresses.
AL DH: Mark Teixeira, .182
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2011: .182, with four homers and 10 RBI (the production's there)
Career BA: .246
Listed Weight: 225
A notoriously slow starter, Tex was hitting .333 with four homers and 10 RBI after his first five games. Then he remembered that it's only April, and he's gone hit-less with nine strikeouts in his last 15 at-bats. That's more like it.
He needed that recovery to make the All-Mendoza Line Team.
For more information on Matt Goldberg’s new books, as well as writing, speaking and interview requests, please e-mail: matt@tipofthegoldberg.com or contact him via his Bleacher Report homepage.
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